


The (5 Metahuman) Allen Children

by fallingleaves



Series: Chronicles of the Allen Children [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Anxiety, Background story, C-Section, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Kids, M/M, Mpreg, Pain, Postpartum Depression, five of them, this isn't that great but it explains everything for my other one, whooo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 05:27:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6691471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingleaves/pseuds/fallingleaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Len and Barry came to have five children.  With powers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The (5 Metahuman) Allen Children

 

            When they decided that they wanted kids, their first step was to look into adoption.  But even though Felicity had managed to forge some excellent documents for a “Leonard Wynters” the adoption process was lengthy, tricky, and always filled with the possibility that someone could dig too deep, or hell even recognize him, and figure out that Leonard Allen was previously Leonard Snart.  And so after almost a year of trying to find a suitable agency, get through the paperwork, and avoid anyone who might figure out that one of the dad’s to be was an ex-master thief, when Caitlin casually suggested surrogacy to Barry and Len over coffee, the shock was quickly followed by elation.

            “Are you sure,” Barry said, had asked at least twenty times during the whole process.  “You don’t have to do this.  This is nine months of your life.”

            To which Caitlin had calmly assured him she was sure, had thought about it for a long time and wanted to help Barry and Len, wanted to carry their child and give them the opportunity to be the wonderful fathers she knew they would be.

            “We can’t ask you to do this,” Barry had said on a number of occasions, shaking his head, and Caitlin had continued to tell him that she wanted to.  Len had simply thanked her, but the look on his face, the deep and sincere gratitude mixed with just the slightest bit of awe was all Caitlin needed to see.

 

 

 

            Convincing Len to have kids was a challenge.  Barry had hinted at his desire for children in varying degrees of discreetness since before they got married, but Len’s fear of responsibility of a father was understandable, and as much as Barry wanted children, he didn’t want to push Len into doing something before he was ready either.  When he finally brought it up and they were able to have a conversation about it, Barry had been extremely excited.  The adoption process had dampered that, with the endless waits and frustration.  After Caitlin had convinced Barry she really was serious and yes she really did want to do this, and Barry got over the absolute giddy feeling of knowing that this was going to happen now, it became a matter of whose sperm to use.

            “Yours,” Len said.  He had been adamant.

            “But –”

            “You want to make this easier for me,” Len said, “then we use your genes, not mine.”

            Barry had frowned, insisted that there was nothing wrong with Len, that his father didn’t mean his genes were inherently flawed, or whatever else ridiculous things were going through Len’s mind, but Len had been adamant.

            “Besides,” Len said, “it will mean the world to your dad.”

            Well, he was right.  Not that Henry Allen wouldn’t have loved any child of theirs regardless of biological parentage, but the knowledge that Barry was having a biological son, a direct descendent, was still special to him.  He cried when Barry told him the news, and insisted on coming back to Central for the birth.

            “It still would have been fine if you wanted to,” Barry said after the decision was made.

            Len just smiled.  “Nah.  Caitlin’s the mother, remember?  Imagine the genius kid we’ll have with your two DNA’s.”

            They were a little worried about what would happen with the speed force, if it would be inherited or cause problems with the pregnancy, but Caitlin said she doubted it was inherited, but even if meta abilities were inherited, the speed force would be safer for her and the baby then Len’s cold powers anyway.  So Barry masturbated in a cup and gave it to Caitlin with a red face and his eyes on the floor. 

            Caitlin didn’t get pregnant.  She ran some tests on Barry’s sperm, did blood work on both herself and him, and concluded that she couldn’t find any abnormalities or indications of problems.  Barry jerked off in a cup twice more before she was impregnated, both experiences as equally mortifying as the first, but when Caitlin announced she was pregnant, it was well worth it.

            During the pregnancy, they took Caitlin out to dinner over twenty times, spent many nights near the end of it at her apartment, and as a final thank you Len bought her a new car.  She had gaped and insisted that it was not necessary, but Len refused to take it back - said that her old one was a deathtrap anyway and this was more fuel efficient so really he was just doing this for the environment.

            Nine months later, she had a baby boy.

 

 

            

            They named him Michael Ronald Allen.  He had bright green eyes, blonde hair that would wind up darkening as he got older, and he was absolutely perfect as far as Barry and Len were concerned.  Len moved his scheduled around, and turned his skills with finance into a part time consulting job that he could do from home, so that he could watch Michael as well.  He was a little over a year old when Caitlin pulled Barry to her desk one day at Star, and showed him a computer screen.

            When they got the flash drive which contained Eobard’s information on the speed force, there was a curious section related to medical advancements as they related to speedsters.

            “Is that… detailing an operation on… how to make a man pregnant?” Barry said.

            Caitlin nodded.

            Barry’s eyes were glued to the screen, mouth gaping.  He hadn’t looked at that section of the flash drive, but Caitlin had combed through it, and was now showing him this.

            “And… we have the resources…”

            She nodded again.  “If you wanted to.”

           

 

 

 

            “No.”

            “Len –”

            “It is dangerous and –”

            “Caitlin said the risks are incredibly small – they –”

            “You are not doing it,” Len said.

            Barry crossed his arms.  “That’s not really your decision.”

            Len glared at him.  “It is as much my decision as yours if we –”

            “It’s my body,” Barry said, “it’s your decision to have a child or not, but it’s my body and it’s my decision if I want to alter it in any way.”

            “Barry,” Len said, one hand against his forehead.

            “I want to do this, Len,” Barry said.

            He looked up slowly.  “You know what that would entail,” he said.

            Barry swallowed.  “I do.”

            “And you still want to,” Len said, almost incredulous.  He sat down with a sigh, shaking his head.  “Barry, that… they still don’t have anesthetics for you.”

            Barry swallowed again.  “I want to do it,” he said.

 

 

 

            Len held Barry’s hand.  There was already a sheen of sweat over his forehead, and they hadn’t even started yet.  Barry gave him a small smile, and Len smiled back, but his shoulders were tense.

            They had Barry strapped down to the table, most of the restraints focused on his middle – both thighs bolted tightly, two belts stretching across his chest in an x, another firmly going across his rib cage.  He was naked, a blanket across him, covering it for now.  Caitlin was setting up a screen across his chest, a tarp of plastic that hung down so that neither Len nor Barry could actually see Caitlin working.  It was mostly because Barry tended to go into shock when he could see what Caitlin was doing during procedures. 

            It had taken a while just to get Barry all strapped down.  He hated being restrained, and Len could see the determination fighting through the fear in his expression.  He was trembling now, breathing a little too fast, fingers clenching tightly in Len’s.

            “You can still back out,” Len said, “you don’t have to do this.”

            Barry shook his head.  “I want to,” he said, determination flashing across his features again.

            The procedure was painful, and it was long.  Barry was scared, had been scared for the last two weeks, knowing the date was coming up.  He had spent the previous night wrapped up in Len’s arms, had started crying when he thought Len had fallen asleep.  His trembling woke him up, and Len had tried to talk him out of it again, but he wouldn’t be stopped. 

            Almost as soon as Caitlin started, Barry had been screaming.  The first thing she had to do was open him up, and that meant making a large cut down his lower stomach, and then using clamps to hold it open and it keep it from healing shut again.  Barry had writhed, screaming, but he couldn’t move one inch with how much they had secured him.  By then it was too late to go back, and Len had tried his best to calm Barry down, to sooth him and distract him from the pain, but it was of little use.

            The whole thing lasted about an hour, and during that time Barry passed out twice, but never stayed out for long.  By the end of it his eyes were red and puffy, he was begging them to stop, and Caitlin had to give him oxygen because his breath was hitching so much and he was screaming and gasping so much that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen on his own.  When it was all over he fell asleep almost immediately. 

            When he woke up, he looked awful.  He started crying almost immediately, hyperventilating and trembling.  He wouldn’t stop until Len climbed into bed with him and held him and told him it was over at least a dozen times.  He fell back asleep shortly.

            When he woke the second time he was much calmer.  By then he was healed, so he wasn’t in any pain, and his first question was if it had worked.  The smile on his face when Len told him it had was almost enough to make it worth it.

 

 

 

             When Len asked how he felt afterwards, Barry said he couldn't tell the difference.  A few days after the procedure they came back in.  This time it was Len's turn to masturbate into a cup, because Caitlin would have to inject the sperm into Barry.  The needle was long and the injection had to be precise.  Barry had adamantly argued that he could stay still fine on his own, he didn't need to be restrained, and eventually Caitlin acquiesced with the condition that Len hold down his hips, in case he jerked upwards.  

             He didn't.  He did cry out, and tense up, but he didn't move, and Caitlin removed the needle.  A week later she confirmed he was pregnant.

 

 

 

            The birth was just as bad as the operation.  Barry was a train wreck.  He was nervous and moody and excited and terrified.  They had to do a C-section for the birth – they had known that in advance of course, and Barry had insisted he was OK with it.  The night before he had seemed fairly calm, had told Len he was just ready for the babies (Caitlin had informed them it would be twins months ago – Len had almost thrown up) to be out.  He had had to take almost a month off work, Caitlin making up a medical excuse for him, after he had gotten too big, and he was going crazy in the house, especially with the constant discomfort of carrying two babies made worse by the fact that his body was not particularly meant to carry two babies.  He was very much ready for the pregnancy to be over.

            But the next morning, he had apparently changed his mind.  He was nervous, and that nervousness developed into panic.  By the time they reached Star Labs the next morning Barry was asking if they could wait another day, and when Caitlin said they couldn’t he was begging her for another few hours, to wait until the afternoon.  He was trembling and scared and knew how much it would hurt, knew from the initial operation that this was going to be bad, maybe worse.  He was crying as they prepped him, fought with them when they tried to strap him down, begged Len to make them wait just a little longer.

            Len knew it wouldn’t really help to wait.  Barry would tie himself up in more knots, and it would probably end up being even worse than it was then.  So he held his hand and ran his fingers through Barry’s hair and told him it would be all over soon and that they were going to meet their new children soon.

            Barry had cried, and when Caitlin made that first cut he screamed, and then he had passed out.

            And somehow, he had stayed passed out, for the entire thing, even through Leah’s first cry, shortly followed by Lucas, even as Caitlin handed one then the other over to Len, even while Caitlin stitched Barry back up, even when Len placed the two of them carefully at their other father’s side, both sleeping now next to him.

            When Barry did wake up, he was groggy and confused.  He dozed for a while after waking up initially, where his eyes would open, he’d say one or two words, and then fall back asleep.  When he finally woke up and stayed awake he was at first elated, and then extremely disappointed that he had missed their children’s birth.  Len consoled him, saying that it was better that way anyway, he hadn’t been in as much pain.  Barry was quickly absorbed with holding the new children anyway.  The way he looked at them, fingers tapping at their tiny ones, spreading over their heads, touching their faces, their noses, their lips – it made something warm swell up and spread through Len’s chest.

 

 

 They had decided on Leah and Lucas, because when Len found out they were twins, he said he wanted to do L names, like he and his sister had.  Barry had been agreeable, and they had come up with Leah and Lucas.  When they were deciding on middle names, Barry had cautiously asked if they could do Nora for Leah, and Len had quickly agreed.  

              "Do you want to pick for Lucas?" Barry asked.

              "You don't want to do Henry?"

              Barry shrugged.  "Sure, but these are your children too."

              Len thought about it.  "Would you be opposed to doing Mick?  I know he's just a friend, but he's been my best friend, and really one of my only friends, for most of my life."

              "We can definitely do Mick."

             So they were born Leah Nora Allen and Lucas Mick Allen.  They weren't identical, and Leah had Len's blue eyes while Lucas had Barry's hazel ones.  When they found out Lucas was a speedster and Leah had ice powers they just laughed at the coincidence.  That was quickly followed by groaning once Lucas started speed crawling and Leah froze her brother's tongue to a poll. 

 

 

 

            When Barry decided he wanted another, Len was surprisingly agreeable.  They had never really had a conversation on how many they wanted, but with Leah and Lucas getting older, no longer babies, Barry was getting nostalgic for when they were just tiny little things.  They decided that they would have one more.

            There was no operation this time, so it was easier than before.  Barry would only have to go through a procedure once, the C-section, and the first time hadn’t actually been that bad, compared to many of his other medical procedures due to his injuries as the Flash, so neither of them really considered it to be a major deterrent this time.

            When it was finally time for the operation again, Barry was nervous, but not as bad as the time before.  It was still nerve-wracking, and he was still dreading the pain, but he was determined to be awake this time for the birth. 

            When Caitlin cut him open again, he screamed, twisting, hand crushing Len’s, but he didn’t pass out.  It had been fairly quick the previous time, so Len was holding Barry’s hand, repeating words of comfort and reassurance, and he was excited too, but then there was no cry, and Caitlin was silent, and Barry’s screaming dragged on.

            “Caitlin,” Len said after a few long minutes.  Panic was racing in his stomach now.

            “There’s a complication,” she said.

            “Is he OK?” Len said.  “Is Barry OK?  Is the baby OK?”

            “They’re both fine right now,” Caitlin said, “I can see the baby.  Barry’s body is trying to heal around him.”

            That was all he got as Barry kept screaming, as Caitlin kept working.

            “L-len,” Barry said.

            “I’m right here, Scarlet,” Len said. “I’m right here, baby, it’s OK.”

            “It hurts,” he said, “please, it hurts.”

            He kept yelling, similar lines, crying that it hurt, begging them to get it done with, asking why it was taking so long.  Caitlin had told him that the majority of it would be over in a couple of minutes.  Barry was in pain and now he was scared, was asking between yells if something was wrong, if the baby was OK.  Len just kept repeating reassurances he weren’t sure were true.

            When they finally heard the baby cry, there was a moment of relief, and then the baby kept crying and was not placed next to them, was not taken out, and Caitlin was not done.  It was another ten minutes before Cisco brought the baby, swaddled up in a blanket, around the screen to Len. 

            Barry had his eyes on the baby, but they couldn’t unstrap his arms- he was still thrashing around, was still in so much pain he was only half lucid.  Len tried to get him to focus on the baby, to show him their child, to keep him distracted, but it did little.  It was another ten minutes before Caitlin was done fixing whatever was wrong, and had started to stitch him up.  By then Barry was calm enough and in enough control for Cisco to unlock his arms, and let him hold their son.  Barry fell asleep with him in his arms.

 

 

 

            Usually, after the birth, it only took Barry a day or so to bounce back.  It always appeared a little miraculous, but with Barry's healing he was feeling fine in a day or so.  That was not the case this time.

            It had Len terrified.  Barry was slow, lethargic, wincing every once in a while, but if Len asked him, he insisted that he wasn't in any pain.  He slept all the time, and was jumpy, nervous and anxious to the point where he spent almost all his time in their room.  It got to the point where Michael, Leah, and Lucas were constantly asking about Daddy, and if he was OK and if they could see him.  The worst part was that Len could tell that Barry was trying.  When he came downstairs he made a point of paying attention to each child, but it seemed to exhaust him and he was always more nervous and agitated when going out of their room.  

             Len kept telling him that it wasn't good for him to stay cooped up in their room all the time, that he needed to start moving around more.  He offered to have the kids taken to Joe's or Iris's, hoping that would help him relax some more, but he just shook his head.  Len could tell he was afraid of scaring he kids, always put on a big smile when he went downstairs now, but it was obviously very difficult for him.  Len just kept telling the kids that Barry still wasn't feeling well after the birth, that there had been some complications and he was fine now but he was a little sick.  Sometimes Barry asked Len to bring the kids up to the room, where they would sit with Barry in bed and watch movies.  That seemed easier for him, and he seemed to take comfort in them cuddled up next to him, but even that seemed to take something out of him.

            "I think he's depressed," Len said to Caitlin.  "Could that be it?  Could he have postpartum depression?"

            "It's possible," Caitlin said, frowning.  "Maybe you should take him to a therapist.  Tell them that you had a surrogate mother, and around the same time Barry had a really painful medical procedure."

             Getting Barry to agree to go was a nightmare.  He was adamantly against it, insisted that he was fine, he just didn't feel that great right then (this was almost three weeks after the birth) and how was the therapist supposed to help him anyway?  He couldn't actually explain what had happened.  And then when Len finally got Barry to admit that maybe trying would be a good idea, he still wouldn't go.  He hadn't left the house since the birth, and the idea of doing so filled him with so much anxiety and just seemed so exhausting that he refused to go.

            The only thing that seemed to help him was when either Len was holding him, or when Barry was holding the baby.

            They named him Wentworth, after Len's grandfather (besides, with names like Leonard and Bartholomew, at least one of them needs to carry on the tradition, Barry had joked) and his middle name was Henry.  From the start, he was a fussy, overly active child, not sleeping as much as normal babies, demanding attention at all times.  They could already tell he was going to be a handful.  They were just glad it wasn't twins again.

            Barry reveled in holding him, in feeding and taking care of him.  It was one of the only things that seemed to take his mind off everything, but even that seemed to sadden him sometimes.  He would be holding him and then Len would watch this frown just take over on his face, until he looked like he was about to cry, at which point he would either press Wentworth firmly against him or hand him to Len, saying he was tired and going to take a nap.

           

 

           After a month, Len had had enough of sitting by and feeling helpless.  He got in touch with some of his old contacts, and he found a therapist who was entirely and completely confidential, even when that confidentiality could lawfully be broken.  

            "I don't want to go, Len," Barry said, tugging away as Len dressed him, pulling a sweatshirt over his head.

            "You're going."

             They met at a small office in a not-great part of town.  Inside was nice though, clean and organized.  They sat in waiting chairs, Barry tapping his foot hard, looking anxious.  He had gone to Star Labs for a check up a week before but besides that it was the first time out of the house in over a month.  They got called in, and a middle-aged woman stood in the doorway, offering a smile.  They walked in.

               "You must be Barry," she said, "Len tells me you were pregnant."

              Barry's head whipped around at Len, his eyes wide, the look on his face incredulous.

               "Mardon sees her," he said.  "So does Mick."

               "Mardon?  Mark Mardon?" 

               "Weather Wizard," Len said simply.  "It's part of our deal."

               Barry stared at him.  "You make your rogue's go to therapy?"

                "If I think they're emotionally unstable and might fly off the handle and jeopardize a heist?  I strongly suggest it to them."

                "He also tells me you're the flash," she said.

                Len got another incredulous, disbelieving look.

                He shrugged.  "Psychiatry is one hundred percent confidential, and Dr. Brown is one of the best.  You'll be fine."

 

 

 

 

              So Barry started meeting with Dr. Brown, twice a week, and Len saw an improvement quickly.  She reccomended he get out more, and try to keep himself busy, so Joe stopped by and dropped off some case files, and after a couple weeks he was going into work on a part-time basis.  It moved back to full time two weeks later.  Two months after he started seeing her he finally broke down one night and told Len what had been bothering him all this time.

        Barry was not going to carry another child.  He had cried when he told Len, telling him he just couldn’t do it again, shaking and crying and apologizing.  The birth had taken its toll on him.  It was too painful, and the idea of going through it again had Barry jumping into a panic attack.

            At first, it really hadn’t seemed like a big deal to Len.  He had assured Barry that it was fine, that it was his choice and he wasn't mad or upset or anything, that he just wanted Barry to be happy, that he hadn't wanted Barry to do the operation for the pregnancy in the first place because he knew it would hurt so much.  They hadn’t even talked about having another child after Wentworth, so the idea that Barry wasn’t ready to carry another child didn’t seem like such a big deal, but it became very apparent that Barry gad thought about wanting another, definitely wanted the possibility of having another.

            Barry was fighting with himself, desperately wanted another child, but terrified of having to do another C-section, of going through that again, pregnant, knowing that at the end of the road he was going to have to do the operation again.  He was angry at himself for not being stronger, for not being able to take it, but so intensely afraid of another complication with the birth that the very idea of it was horrifying.  He had been struggling with it the whole time, telling himself alternatively that he could not under any circumstances go through that again and that he should be able to go through it again, that it wasn't that bad, it was only one day, he should be able to tough through it - that he was weak and pathetic and it was his fault.  He was tying himself up in knots, making himself more and more depressed as he told himself over and over again that he was being weak and driving himself into a nervous spiral thinking about doing it again. 

             When Len found out he was simultaneously upset that Barry was suffering so much without telling him and feeling horrible for not realizing it sooner.  He made Barry promise several times to never do anything like that again, to tell him what was going on if he was getting that upset, and then he spent the rest of the night reassuring him that it wasn't his fault and he was so brave and had already done it twice, and it was his choice and if he didn't want to that was OK, it was completely understandable and Len loved him and just wanted him to be happy.

 

 

            He told Lisa a couple weeks later, when Barry was starting to do better but Len was still reeling from the information.  Lisa had listened, told him he had married the fucking hero of heroes as far as guilt complexes went, and then suggested they look at adoption again.  When Len explained all the problems with that, she suggested less legal means.  Len frowned at her and reminded her that his husband was the fucking hero of heroes.  That wasn't going to happen.

            A week later when Len had managed to drag Barry out to dinner, a feat which was, admittedly, getting easier every week, and Lisa suggested they do another surrogate mother, Len just sighed.  And when Barry said Caitlin had already said, from the beginning, that she was only doing it once, Lisa had frowned, nodded, and then, in about the most dramatic way possible, complete with a long pause and valiant hand waving, she had said that she would be willing to do it.

 

 

 

            And so, since they were obviously not using Len’s sperm, Barry was left to jerk off in a room again, and nine months later they had another son.  By that time Barry was back to his normal self.  It hadn't been instantaneous - the knowledge that they would have another child was not enough by itself to snap him out of the depression and haze of anxiety he had gotten stuck in, but it certainly helped speed things along.  By the time Lisa was a cranky nine months pregnant (she was much more demanding than Caitlin had been) Barry was filled with excitement and was spending almost all his time running around getting things for Lisa (who was taking way too much advantage of it) and redecorating the nursery for two again.  

            The baby was born, Lisa mourned her lost twenty four hour pick up/maid/landscaper/cook service that was an overly grateful speedster, and they named their new son Cyrus Joseph Allen.  

            By that time it had also been confirmed Michael did have powers, although no one knew the extent to which they would develop, and Lucas and Leah were already running around and freezing things, and Caitlin had tested and shown that there was some trace of the speed force in Wentworth.  When Caitlin tested Cyrus, they found that he did not have any trace of the speed force, and it was met with a bit of a sigh of relief.  They were looking forward to having one non-meta child.

            So when Caitlin informed them a couple months later, after doing some blood work on Cyrus, that he was in fact a meta, they were a little shocked.  (At this point, Barry was still doing well.  Len had been a little worried he might regress after the birth, like he did when Wentworth was born, but that didn't appear to be the case.)

            “But he doesn’t have the speed force!” Barry said, “how is that possible?  He didn’t get it from me, did he?  Can our kids have powers other then the speed force from me?”

            Caitlin shook her head.  “You can’t pass on non-speedster related powers, but he doesn’t have speedster powers.”

            “Then what the hell is it?” Len asked.

            “Lisa carries the metahuman gene,” she said.

            “She what?” Len said.

            “It’s the same as yours,” Caitlin said, “just not active.  She’s a carrier, and Cyrus is presenting the gene.  He’s going to have some sort of ice powers.”

             Some sort of ice powers.  When Len told Lisa she burst into laughter, but then straightened up.  "Does that mean if I have kids some day they could have _powers?_ Are you saying I could wind up taking care of a kid that can freeze things too?"  And then it was Len's turn to grin.  Lisa groaned.

 

And that was how they wound up with five metahuman children.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, so I don't think this was that great but I have it written anyway so why not post it. This is more of a prequel to my other stories in this series. Anyway, if you review it will totally make my day! All comments are appreciated! Thanks for reading :)


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